Inquest hears of mother's plea to son who died in County Durham

A mother screamed at her teenage son to slow down moments before he was killed at the end of a police pursuit when he left the moving car he was driving, an inquest heard.

Disqualified driver Kelvin Bainbridge, 19, was wanted by police and had just visited a hospital with his pregnant partner to find out their unborn child was a boy when he sped away from a marked traffic vehicle.

Following a pursuit which lasted six minutes, Mr Bainbridge got out of the Nissan Primera he was driving and was struck by the Durham Police vehicle in Spennymoor at about 2.30pm on October 18 2019.

An inquest in Crook, County Durham, heard he died from a blunt head injury when he was struck while he was on the ground.

Senior assistant coroner Crispin Oliver told a jury that the inquest, which could take three weeks to complete, will consider issues including Mr Bainbridge's interaction with the police in the months before his death, the decision taken to pursue his vehicle, and risk assessments during the pursuit.

In a pen portrait, the teenager's mother, Suzanne, said she had attended hospital in Durham with Mr Bainbridge and his partner for a scan, and her son was "ecstatic" to find out she was having a boy.

After the scan, her son was driving her back to Spennymoor when they stopped at a pub in Tudhoe.

The inquest heard Mr Bainbridge was wanted for burglary offences and that an off-duty officer who had seen him driving on the A167 contacted a colleague.

A traffic officer drove up to the pub to speak to him and was getting out of his vehicle when Mr Bainbridge "drove off at speed", the coroner said.

"I was screaming at Kelvin to slow down"

His mother said: "The whole chase felt like it lasted forever.

"The whole thing was scary, we were speeding through town and it was 2.30pm in the middle of the day.

"I was screaming at Kelvin to slow down.

"I remember turning round and screaming at the police to stop chasing us and Kelvin will pull over."

She said it was too painful to remember the scene when her son died.

His father, Troy Bainbridge, said in his pen portrait that Kelvin had not needed to die that day and that he should have served a jail term, and could have gone on to make something of his life.

He said: "I know this could have and should have ended differently, and he should be with us right now."

Mr Bainbridge's parents said his upbringing was badly affected by the death from leukaemia of their son Little Troy at the age of seven, when Kelvin was a year old.

In a summary of the incident, Mr Oliver said Mr Bainbridge's Nissan collided with a Renault car during the pursuit and did not stop.

"He got out of the car when it was still in motion and was struck by the pursuing officer's car," the coroner said.

The Nissan he had been driving crashed into a brick wall.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct was informed of Mr Bainbridge's death and began an investigation that afternoon, the coroner said.

Mr Bainbridge's parents gasped in horror when they saw dashcam footage from the police car as it collided with their son.

The coroner had repeatedly asked them if they were sure about watching the distressing images.

The jury was shown dashcam footage from two police cars in the pursuit, as well as body-worn camera images from one of the officers.

The police driver who tried to stop Mr Bainbridge at the pub could be heard to discuss with controllers about using his stinger to stop the car before the pursuit started, but concluded he did not have enough time to set it up.

The in-car film recorded him asking for authorisation to continue the pursuit and him telling the control room his location and the speeds he and Mr Bainbridge were travelling at.

The inquest was adjourned until Tuesday.

Hear all the latest news from across Teesside on the hour, every hour, on 96.6FM, DAB, at tfmradio.co.uk, and on the TFM app.